Time After Time
by x Ino Fan x
Summary: Ino didn’t know what to feel after Sasuke left Konoha. SasuIno, side pairing of Narusaku


Time After Time

_SasuIno, side pairing of NaruSaku._

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Ino didn't know what to feel after Sasuke left Konoha.

The first day she found out, the only thing she felt was shock. She had sat on the bed, her stomach tightening, nausea overtaking her. Sakura was sobbing, but she took a minute to wipe away her tears, sniffle a bit, and ask Ino if she was okay. Ino fought back the tears for her best friend. _I've lost, haven't I?_ She had thought to herself, amused. _He said goodbye to her. Not me._

That's when the second emotion came. Fury. If there's one thing everyone knows about the Yamanaka clan, it's that if there's one thing that is passed down just like their mind techniques, it is their temper. But this time, Ino's anger isn't over something silly like a little red ribbon laying in a box under her bed. No, it's because she believes she's foolish for thinking she loved this boy. _It was never love_, she kept telling herself. Telling herself so, and sitting up from her bed, a determined look was suddenly on her face. Sakura took another moment between sobbing, and asked her again if she was alright. Ino just frowned and walked over to a mirror that hung on her closet door. Taking a kunai from her weapons pack, she cuts her hair, which she had been growing long for Sasuke again. This time, though, it only came just below her ears. Sakura gaped, her tears continuing to pour, but sniffling no longer. Sakura had asked her what the _hell_ was wrong with her, but Ino had just shaken her head, that determined look still set on her face. "Sakura," she said firmly, staring her best friend in the eyes, "he's not good enough for you." It was the only thing she could think of saying at this point, and Sakura just turned around and gazed sadly out the window.

"He didn't mean it," she says, her voice seemingly far off. "He didn't mean it when he said thank you. _I could tell_." Ino lowered her eyes at this point, and there came the third emotion, her own pain. _It was a stupid crush, _she tells herself over and over, but the tears still brim the bottoms of her eyes, and she turns away from Sakura, who, still looking out the window, tells her to "just cry already, damnit. I know you need it too." And Ino listens. They cry into each other's shoulders, and Ino recites the reasons she loves him in her head, over and over again. _His eyes. His smile, not the smirk, the __**real**__ smile. The way he doesn't push me off..._ With every thing she remembers him by, she sobs a little more.

A little later, after Sakura has gone home, her face all red and puffy and, oh god, her _eyes_ just looking _dead_, Ino lays down on her bed. She thinks about how much she shouldn't care about him, about how she should just date Shikamaru or Chouji like her father wanted, have a few kids, and lead a mediocre life, but thinking about this makes her feel _empty_. She knows she'd never be happy with anyone else, and it scares her.

Almost a year later, Sakura is finally smiling again. And although Ino didn't say a word to her, she knows that Sakura doesn't linger at the Gates of Konoha for the raven-haired boy who had held her heart a year ago. She lingers for the goofy blonde boy who finally made her laugh again. Seeing this makes Ino's heart ache, and from that day on she lingers at the Gates with Sakura at exactly five forty-three P.M. every day. They never ask each other who they're waiting for. They already know. And they accept it.

About 3 years after Sasuke officially left Konoha, Naruto comes back. Ino loves the look in Sakura's eyes, and this is when the teasing comes. Sakura denies it, of course, but Ino sees the small, secret smile she gives the hyperactive ninja, and even if the idiot doesn't understand it yet, he smiles back, eyes dancing. This small exchange is what makes Ino suddenly feel very lonely sitting in Ichiraku's with them. She thinks about the boy who still holds her heart and suddenly she feels like she's miles away, watching Naruto and Sakura from very far off.

Five years after Sasuke left Konoha, he is brought back by Naruto. Naruto suffered terrible injuries, and a screaming and sobbing Sakura finally heals him, getting very close to exhausting her chakra. Sasuke, though, is another story. He's been unconscious for a week, and everyone's starting to lose faith. Ino, though, brings him new flowers every day, waiting, _waiting_ for him to wake up. She thinks of what she'd say if he woke up. She practices different speeches. _Remember that time you held my hand when we were five? I do. I should have watched from afar, instead of getting in your face like I did. Can you forgive me? I was twelve. I'm eighteen now, and oh god, I love you._ She'd recite the words over and over, and when she got to the "I love you," she'd always choke on tears and squeeze his hand.

Five years and a week after Sasuke left Konoha, Ino is squeezing his hand, reciting her daily speech, and demanding that he wake up now or she'll kill him. She tells him she loves him, sobs a bit, and repeats herself. She gets up to leave, her hand lingering on his, and that's when she feels a small squeeze that isn't her own. She blinks, eyes wide, heart thumping. _I'm lying to myself. It's my mind. My mind is playing tricks on me. Or is it my heart?_ But no, she stares intently at his face, where his eyes open _so _slowly, and stare right into her own. They stare at each other for what Ino feels are ages, but are really a few short minutes. Then she throws herself onto him, sobbing and clutching his body to hers. The difference between this and when Sakura did the same to him so many years ago, is that his arms weakly circle around her.

Six years after Sasuke left Konoha, he is accepted back to Konoha completely because his best friend threatened that if Sasuke was to be executed then he would be right up there with him. He still gets angry glares from a majority of the village, but a girl with long blonde hair can glare ten times worse than everyone in the village is holding his hand while they walk down the street, and suddenly he truly smiles. Ino turns to him, eyes dancing, and remarks that he looks the best when he smiles, and he turns away. She laughs, telling him that he's blushing, but he tells her she's crazy.

Two years after Sasuke returns to Konoha, he marries Yamanaka Ino. One of the only things Sakura remembers about the wedding is the goddamn flowers. There are so many she can barely see the bride coming down the aisle. The next thing she remembers is how happy Ino looks, so happy that for the first time in so many years she's crying tears of _joy_ instead of pain. She looks into Sasuke's eyes, the boy she had told herself not to love so long ago, and she knows she's truly found her happiness. He looks down at her and grins ever so slowly, and asks her if she remembers the time when they were five, and they held each other's hands? He answers before she can say anything, saying that he did. He adds that he loved the way she got in his face, and that there's no need to forgive her. He's nineteen now, he says, and "oh god, I love you." They kiss, and Ino feels like she's flying.

Yes, seven years after Sasuke leaves Konoha, he returns not only to the village, but to her as well.

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**A/N: I realized I didn't have a SasuIno and they're my favorites! OO So here's my attempt, at 2 in the morning And yes, I know the whole coming back thing has been used in almost every story EVAR, but I needed to use it D: Enjoy!**


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